In 2009, I joined the NAB board and asked who was fighting for radio in the dashboard with auto manufacturers. I was told, “Don’t worry, Ibiquity is dealing with that.” My response was, “Their interests and those of the industry are not aligned at all. They are begging for chipsets, and we need to be demanding primary placement.” I was sidelined quickly because I did not conform. Ben Downs from Texas managed to make some progress and was more diplomatic than me. Subsequently, the votes were arranged to bring in Bob Profitt from Alpha after me. I like Bob, and Bob wasn’t in a position to piss anyone off. John David gave a life of service to the industry but he was poorly advised and missed the curve at the end of his career at NAB. It frustrates me to no end that much damage could have been prevented, but the path to resurrection requires blood and may be too much for the industry I love to endure.
I'm with you in so many ways, Rob, but consider this - as old broadcasters, we're down to arguing worst-case scenarios for everything - where will radio listeners be without real-time alerts - where will TV viewers be without weather break-ins? Most of our audiences live in the normal of nothing rather than the chaos of crisis. We're arguing for protecting our business model for maybe 10 days a year? Correct me if I'm wrong. But the other 355 normal days are spent finding entertainment and information (in that order) through the easiest available means and the hardware and software people have decided that is streaming. TV is hard - just turn on the Home Screen of every "Smart" TV (the only thing smart about most of them is how the manufacturers now push preferred content to them). You've made a case that radio is now hard. I agree. Broadcast media survived in the car and the home for decades priimarily by being EASY. One button, it's on. One button to change. I am very concerned about the future of broadcast for many reasons including the fact that it's just too hard to access. And people don't want to work that hard just to find something to watch or hear.
My car is so old I didn't entirely understand the barriers you describe. Maybe I don't need a newer one after all. Thank you Rob, always.
In 2009, I joined the NAB board and asked who was fighting for radio in the dashboard with auto manufacturers. I was told, “Don’t worry, Ibiquity is dealing with that.” My response was, “Their interests and those of the industry are not aligned at all. They are begging for chipsets, and we need to be demanding primary placement.” I was sidelined quickly because I did not conform. Ben Downs from Texas managed to make some progress and was more diplomatic than me. Subsequently, the votes were arranged to bring in Bob Profitt from Alpha after me. I like Bob, and Bob wasn’t in a position to piss anyone off. John David gave a life of service to the industry but he was poorly advised and missed the curve at the end of his career at NAB. It frustrates me to no end that much damage could have been prevented, but the path to resurrection requires blood and may be too much for the industry I love to endure.
Thank you for bringing this issue forward.
I'm with you in so many ways, Rob, but consider this - as old broadcasters, we're down to arguing worst-case scenarios for everything - where will radio listeners be without real-time alerts - where will TV viewers be without weather break-ins? Most of our audiences live in the normal of nothing rather than the chaos of crisis. We're arguing for protecting our business model for maybe 10 days a year? Correct me if I'm wrong. But the other 355 normal days are spent finding entertainment and information (in that order) through the easiest available means and the hardware and software people have decided that is streaming. TV is hard - just turn on the Home Screen of every "Smart" TV (the only thing smart about most of them is how the manufacturers now push preferred content to them). You've made a case that radio is now hard. I agree. Broadcast media survived in the car and the home for decades priimarily by being EASY. One button, it's on. One button to change. I am very concerned about the future of broadcast for many reasons including the fact that it's just too hard to access. And people don't want to work that hard just to find something to watch or hear.